The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for allocating power to information handling systems using multiple links.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs such as, for example, switch or networking IHSs, are configured to provide power to other IHSs through their ports and over networking cables using Power over Ethernet (PoE, PoE+, etc.) systems and components. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards 802.3af and 802.3at define the specifications that describe how power may be provided over a single Ethernet cable to an IHS.
To meet increasing data bandwidth demands, a switch IHS may be connected to a single connected IHS using multiple Ethernet cables connected between respective ports on the switch IHS and ports on the single connected IHS. The multiple links provided by those Ethernet cable connections may then be aggregated to form a link aggregation group (LAG) that increases the data throughput between the switch IHS and that single connected IHS. However, current PoE specifications only provide for the transmission of power over a single Ethernet link. When more than one link in a LAG is configured to provide power using PoE systems and components, the PoE logic will operate to treat each of those links as a distinct and separate PoE link and cause each of those links to provide the same amount of power to the single connected IHS, which leads to inefficient power allocation by the switch IHS. In order to avoid such inefficiencies, users typically configure only one of the links in the LAG to provide power, which can raise issues with regard to power supply to the single connected IHS if that link fails. Furthermore, due to physical characteristics of the Ethernet cables that provide Ethernet links, an upper limit exists on the amount of power that may be conventionally transmitted from the switch IHS to the single connected IHS. For example, even conventional high power transmission Ethernet cables that transmit power over 4 wires are limited to transmitting up to approximately 60 watts of power, as the physical characteristics of those Ethernet cables result in Ethernet cable heating issues at higher power transmission amounts.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved multiple link power allocation system.